The ECSO and Crime Stoppers of Eddy County issued a release seeking the public’s assistance in locating Lopez Friday after a warrant was obtained for her arrest for her involvement in the murder of Danny E. Mendes.

Lopez was already wanted on an adult probation and parole hold. She is now charged with tampering with evidence in the first degree for her involvement in the homicide.

Mendes, 49, of Roswell, was found deceased early Sunday morning near the intersection of Haystack and Four Dinkus roads south of Artesia. The cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head.

Michael A. Jimenez, 26, of Artesia, was arrested late Wednesday on an open count of murder in the first degree for his involvement in the case. Jimenez was detained Wednesday afternoon following a standoff with police at 405 W. Cleveland Ave.

“We’re still actively investigating this case,” Lt. Matt Hutchinson of the ECSO said this afternoon. “We’ve got a lot of loose ends we’re tying up.”

Hutchinson encouraged anyone with additional information regarding the case or the individuals involved to contact Det. Robert Navarrette at 575-887-7551 or, anonymously, Crime Stoppers of Eddy County at 1-844-786-7227; by texting the code word StopACrime plus the tip to CRIMES (274637); or via the Tipsoft link at cityofcarlsbadnm.com/police.cfm.

“In this particular case, the community aided the sheriff’s office in solving this crime, by the newspaper, by Crime Stoppers… so we’re again going to ask that from the community,” Hutchinson said. “If you hear something or know something, let us know.

“The citizens of Artesia were highly involved in this case investigation by hearing stuff on the streets and contacting law enforcement, and helping us do our job. Obviously we do the legwork, the logistics portion, but it makes our job a lot easier when we’re getting tips.”